NG21 is adjacent, and in many ways very similar, to the southern parts of the neighbouring reserve NG20 (Kwara Reserve). Thus read my comments on the Flora and fauna there for a complete picture. That said, a greater proportion of NG21 reserve is permanent swamp, as it has several large, permanent rivers flowing through it. The Moanachira passes through heading east to feed the Gcodikwe Lagoon, before flowing into the Xakanaxa Lagoon which forms the source of the Khwai River that eventually reaches to the far eastern corner of the Delta.
A less clear channel, the Mborogha, flows southeast almost to Chief’s Island where it ultimately feeds into the Gomoti and Santandibe Rivers – both important watercourses of the lower Delta (though in the last few decades there seems to have been a change of flow between these two major rivers, from the Mborogha to the Moanachira).
In Okavango: Jewel of the Kalahari (see Further Reading for details), Karen Ross notes that the eastern rivers, the Moanachira and Mborogha, carry far more water today than they did a hundred years ago. So with all these waters concentrated into NG21 it’s perhaps not surprising that it’s an area where you’ll find plenty of deep-water lagoons and channels.
The majority of the NG21 reserve has too much water to be one of the Delta’s prime game-viewing areas, but in the dry area around Shinde you’ll still find good numbers of game, including impala, lechwe, tsessebe and giraffe. Lone bull elephants are around for most of the year, whilst the breeding herds migrate here from the dry interior towards the end of the dry season.
Reedbuck, kudu, sable and buffalo are infrequently seen, while sitatunga are common in the areas of thick papyrus but rarely sighted. Zebra and wildebeest are relatively rare in this area. It’s a good place to look for water-based mammals like the very common hippo and the more elusive spotted-necked otters.
The dominant predators are lion and hyena, with leopard and wild dog also found here. From around September to November 2001 a pack of dogs, known locally as the Four Rivers Pack, denned and raised pups in the area used by the Footsteps Walking Camp.